Colo. Voters Call for Campaign Finance Reform

Colorado voters gave strong approval Tuesday to a ballot initiative instructing the state's congressional delegation to push for a constitutional amendment that would reverse the Supreme Court's 2010 decision allowing unlimited corporate and special interest spending on campaigns.

The votes on ballot Amendment 65 were still being counted late last night, but the Denver Post reported that nearly two-thirds of voter would end up supporting the measure, aimed at pressuring U.S. lawmakers to remove the big money influence that dominated so many campaigns in this year's election.

"I think Colorado voters said loud and clear that they want their elected leaders to take action," Elena Nunez, executive director of Colorado Common Cause, told the Post. "The decisive vote margin demonstrates this is not a partisan issue."

"Amendment 65 is a way for Colorado voters to stand up to big money and politics," Nunez said.

According to the Post, the ballot measure "instructs Colorado's congressional delegation to propose and support an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would reverse the 2010 Supreme Court Citizens United decision that held that corporations and unions could spend unlimited amounts on political campaigns."

The ballot measure doesn't actually require that the state's delegation to take action, but its supporters said it serves as encouragement for members of Congress to rein in campaign spending, which this year was an estimated $6 billion, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

If approved by Congress, the amendment would have to be ratified by the Colorado state legislature and 37 other states to be added to the Constitution and to overturn the Citizens United decision, which led to the creation of super political action committees that are not required to reveal the sources of their contributions.

Colorado voters gave strong approval Tuesday to a ballot initiative instructing the state's congressional delegation to push for a constitutional amendment that would reverse the Supreme Court's 2010 decision allowing unlimited corporate and special interest spending on campaigns.